OK, the stenciled ducks — and at least one bunny — popping up on traffic signal boxes in Albany are probably not the work of a city gang. Which leaves questions, such as:

Who is painting these benign figures?

Why?

Why use cuddly creatures?

Are there demands?

If so, what are they?

The answer to at least one of those questions is probably to evoke a thoughtful response such as, “Huh, it’s a duck. Huh …” The rest is a mystery.

Traditional graffiti are often slipshod squiggles. Some rise to art, often self-aggrandizing. Some are simply art.

These are … stenciled ducks. And at least one bunny. In a word: Gentle.

But why? That may be the point: To get the viewer to ask the question.

Or perhaps the outbreak is a political statement.

“From an Occupy standpoint I have no knowledge of anything like that,” said Bradley Russell, a Occupy Albany activist. “I have to admit I find it pretty entertaining.”

Then maybe it’s commerce-related.

“It’s not us,” said Bob Wolfgang, president of the tour company Albany Aqua Ducks & Trolleys. “We’ve been very creative with our marketing, but we haven’t stooped to anything like that.”

That leaves art. Urban artist Samson Contompasis said he has no idea who is stenciling the non-threatening figures uptown, but he says it’s undoubtedly artists.

“Absolutely,” he said. “That’s the purpose of street art: To enliven people’s lives.”

What does it mean?

“It means,” he said, “anything you want it to mean.”

Earlier this year stenciled red goats started appearing throughout Kingston, prompting an uproar, some civic pride and eventually a New York Times story. Contompasis said this is not necessarily a direct outgrowth of the Kingston goats, noting similar graffiti have popped up in cities around the world.

So far the city has not received any complaints about the graffiti, which have also crept into Guilderland, Smith said. He said the police department would investigate if it receives a complaint, just as it would any other one.

Scott Prusinski never even noticed the black duck stenciled on the traffic box outside his home at the corner of Colonial and Western avenues.

“Ducks? I have a turkey on my lawn every morning,” the 48-year-old said.

He looked at the drab box with the single stencil.

“They could have put more on it. You wouldn’t believe what I find on that,” he said, listing various items of ornamentation. “I kinda don’t mind it.

“I just don’t want them coming up to my house and spraying stuff on it.”